Letter 68 - Moving Days and RMRT Seminar Week

 Dear family and friends,

I'm a day late on this because this week has been so full! We have had our regular office duties, patriarchal blessings and the RMRT (Returned Missionary Return to the Temple) Seminar and on top of all of that we moved to another apartment last weekend! So, there has not been a moment to spare! 

Today is May 2nd - So happy birthday to Tessa! I'm taking a quick minute to blog this Saturday morning and then we are off to the temple for the last day of the seminar. And John has two blessings to give to a couple of missionaries from India who are currently in the MTC here in Thailand! So it is another full day! 

I just got through with my morning stair climb, and I thought I would pop into the office to get some pictures dragged over to the blog! Read on for all of the details of the week! 

As always we love you and we miss you and we thank you for your love, support, notes and prayers! 

Love,

Elder and Sister Brady (mom and dad, grandpa and grandma, John and Shelly, and so on)

What is the significance of a photo of a drawer of utensils you ask?! 

Well - let me tell you! We moved last Saturday! We moved down the hall from apartment 505 to 502. And we have really grown accustomed to these little spoons and forks. I wanted to make sure the new place had the same silverware! 

I also wanted to make sure I had the same kind of pans and room for my baking ingredients. I don't cook much, but I have mastered the use of the oven here! And we love an occasional homemade chocolate chip cookie! 

On Saturday we moved! In case I did not mention it! Haha! We started at 7am and by 5pm we were nearly moved in and settled (that included time cleaning the other apartment for the new Senior Missionaries. I wish I had taken pictures of all of the boxes and the mess. But this picture is the last little mess I needed to sort through. Why did we move, you ask? Well, we wanted to be on the East Mission side of the Annex. That is just a little OCD of us. But the bigger reason is that this room is bigger! The two rooms on the ends are smaller (we were in one of those rooms). And the three middle rooms are bigger! We are excited to have a little more space! 

  On Sunday we attended the Bangkok International Ward instead of going to Rayong. John had a blessing to give that day - plus we spent all day Saturday moving. We love to attend church and to partake of the Sacrament and to feel closer to God. We also loved watching these cute little ones through out the meeting. It sure makes us miss our family back home! PS - that is our sweet friend Kaitlyn playing with the little ones. I think their mother was able to enjoy some of the meeting because of Kaitlyn's help.

The little ones continued to entertain us! 

  Outside of the chapel, the Thai Speaking ward set up some beautiful table decorations. Sister Thorsen from the West mission attends that ward and she shared these pictures with me. 

The entire display is so beautiful! Those gorgeous carvings are Watermelons!!!!!

Sunday afternoon, Elder Brady gave Ramsey from Hungary a blessing. 

This is Ramsey with his older brother. His older brother lives here in Thailand (and happens to be the father of those adorable children). Ramsey is leaving soon for his mission. He will be going to Boston. 

On Monday, President Kanyaphan stopped by the office with treats for us Senior missionaries. Avocado smoothies! Yum! They were a favorite of Elder Belnaps. The yummy tradition continues on!

Thanks President! 

Throw back to our training day (last Friday)! We only had two missionaries arrive in Thailand this month. We are excited to get to know Elder Banana and Sister Allen.

Elder Brady chatting with the Elders. I nabbed this pictures from a video made of the East mission arrival and transfer day!

Tuesday is another moving day. This time Elder Brady is meeting with the landlords to close a condo out in Ramkhamhaeng. We have had a number of missionaries leave and not as many arrive, so we have to close a few of our missionary accommodations. 

The Elders did a pretty good job cleaning out the place. Since Elder Brady was in the hospital, the missionaries did all of this work themselves! This is all that is left to move or get rid of. 

After the condo closing, we stopped by Sandy's pizza place to buy some pizza. Sandy is our friend whose husband passed away not long ago. 

Sandy is so sweet and her pizza is delicious. 

We also stopped at the Elders to drop off the condo key. They will be helping to finish up the Condo closing by contacting the Bishop and donating the bunk beds and other items to some ward members! 

Thank you Elder Htoo and Elder Guanuna! 

Tuesday afternoon, the office ladies went out for ice cream to say good bye to Sister Meeker who finishes her 21 month mission! And to welcome Sister Thorsen who is new to the West Mission office. 

We will miss Elder and Sister Meeker. Thank you for the ice cream treat Sister Meeker! 

Also pictured: Sister Justensen, me, and Sister Call!

Featuring Swensen's Ice cream! This was delicious! 

Wednesday the RMRT Seminar begins! We finally get to meet the Packards in person! Sister Packard and I have spent a lot of time conversing via email! Here is a fun fact - they are best friends with some of our best friends - the Garlocks (from Tacoma). It is such a fun, small world! 

Here is another fun story! This is Sister Buckner and her cute daughter (recently returned missionary) Lauren. Elder Buckner (her husband) was our presiding general authority at the RMRT event. He is in the Asia Area Presidency. Sister Buckner and I kept talking to each other about how we both looked so familiar to each other. Not to long into the event, John was talking with Elder Buckner about his time serving as Stake President (around the same time John was Stake President). The Buckners are from NYC and we have visited their stake for church a few times on vacation back East. Finally, John said he met a Young Stake President from Manhattan at Philmont Scout Camp back in 2008. They were there with there young family of 5 kids. We were there with our children at the time. Elder Buckner said, "that would have been me!! And my family!!" And that explains why Sister Buckner looked so familiar! I spent a week with her at Philmont. All of the women dropped their children off at the various age group "camps," and then we had our own woman's camp where we hiked, did a cope course, enjoyed time together in uplifting workshops, and just got to know each other! It really is a fun, small world! 

Here we are with our new friends (returned missionaries) from Vietnam! 

Our group had RMs from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, China, Hong Kong, and India. 

Wednesday night dessert was ice cream. I thought the add ons were mango and sweet sticky rice! I took a bite and found out it was some kind of potato and plain sticky rice! I still ate it all! Haha! 

This is my friend from Indonesia. We played a game where we had to make animal noises and find our matching animal! We were both cats! :)

Thursday nigh was the Dinner Cruise! Here we are on the bus! Time to go! 

Resting at the fountain! 

It was so hot and we got there a couple of hours before the cruise, so we headed inside to the AC at Big C grocery store and got ourselves some ice cream to cool down! And to tide us over! Dinner was not until 8pm! We are normally almost in bed by that time! 

This ice cream looks interesting! Low Fat and Fish??? We did not try it! 

Waiting for the group to gather by the big Ferris Wheel to head over to the cruise!

On the cruise at last. Our table had us, the Packards, and the Buckners. 

Wat Arun! So beautiful! 

The dancing has begun! 

Dancing under an almost full moon! 

The gorgeous skyline. 

The beautiful moon. 

Friday lunch time! Friday morning, I gave my Bill Porter talk. I related Bill's story to the challenges that returned missionaries have when they get home and face the world! No pictures of the talk this time.

After lunch, we had two patriarchal blessings for two of the RMRT attendees. This is Varshini from India. She is so sweet. We were so happy to be a part of her special day. 

Mamatha's blessing got entered into our system at the very last minute. She was so happy because she wanted a blessing so bad and it was looking like it was not going to happen. After a lot of work by Elder Buckner and prayers by everyone, she was able to receive her blessing. She was so happy. 

Elder Buckner and Elder Brady.

Time for a picture! All of the attendees. The leaders in front are the Packards, Bradys, Buckners, Whites (he was one of the first missionaries in Thailand and later was a mission leader with his wife - they were actually our current mission leader's leaders! haha - does that make sense?), and Thata (who helped with the conference)!

Mamatha and Varshini

Elder Buckner gives the group some final words of wisdom on Friday evening. 

Well, it is finally the end of the day on Saturday - I will start next week's blog with today. But for now it is evening, I am tired, and I want to get this posted! 

Thanks for reading! 

We love you and miss you!

Letter 67 - Or as the kids would say . . . Six - Seven!!

Dear loved ones, 

Hello from Thailand! It is hard to believe we have been on a mission for 67 weeks! It is also hard to believe that 2 weeks ago, John was wrapping up 2 weeks in the hospital. I can't believe John's brother, Rick and Belle have come and gone! I can't believe we survived immigration last Friday. And I can't believe another transfer is wrapping up and we are saying goodbye to missionaries (whom we have grown to love and will miss so much) and welcoming new missionaries this week (that we know we will love).

Update on John: He continues to improve which we are so grateful for. He goes to bed a little earlier these days and takes an occasional afternoon nap as his energy levels return. His stomach is still sensitive, but that is to be expected. 

I will move on to the pictures. 

But before I do, we love you and miss you and thank you for your love, support, prayers, and kind texts, emails, and comments!

Love, 

Elder and Sister Brady (mom and dad, grandma and grandpa, John and Shelly, and so on)

Last Friday was immigration day! We got up at 0'dark 30! Well, 3:30am to be exact! I can't believe we are even smiling in this picture! We caught a Grab (taxi) at 4:00am and headed over to the immigration government building. We stood in line until 5am to get into the building. We were given numbers to stand in another line inside the building. At 6am, we were given new numbers to sit in a line (there were numbered chairs lined up for us to sit in while waited for the office to open at 8am. Once we got our chair numbers we went downstairs to sign immigration papers, find some breakfast and take a walk around the building. Pictured above is us with the MTC Leaders, President and Sister Harper. Smiling! 

This is us a little before 5:00am - standing in line to get a number and enter the building. We were a little concerned with how Elder Brady would hold up considering he was in the hospital just one week before. And his stomach was still hurting somewhat. Thankfully, he did OK. I was concerned because my experience at immigration last year was not good. I had a horrible headache last year and some stomach issues (I will say nothing more about that). Last year's queue number had us seen just before noon, so it was a long difficult day for me. I was not looking forward to going to immigration.

I am happy to say, I did NOT have a headache this time! And my stomach was working just fine! Additionally, we got a lower queue number and we were finished just after 10am and home by 11am! Here we are taking a little walk to explore the building and stretch our legs. 

Sitting in our assigned chairs, waiting for the office to open! 

After we got home, we ate some lunch and then proceeded to take 2 hour naps! It was the best! Then I got a message from Belle asking if we were going to be in the office. So of course, we went down to spend some time with Belle in our office. We met Belle last year at the RMRT conference. Her favorite thing to do is to make fun of Elder Brady! Haha!

We also got to meet Belle's boyfriend, Anden! 

He served his mission here and is back in Thailand to visit Belle. 

Saturday morning we did our first virtual house inspections! Our favorite thing to do is to do house inspections! Not that we love inspecting the houses . . . but we love to spend time with the missionaries! We often go to lunch with them and get to know them better! With Elder Brady's stay in the hospital and concerns about traveling about our Zone until he is feeling better, we did some inspections via Messenger Video. These are our dear Rayong Elders (we were so sad not be in Rayong). Elders Westcott and Casinillo did a great job (as far as we could see via video!)! 

But seriously, I was so impressed with how they polished the bathroom fixtures! I had to take a picture!

Look! You can see Elder Westcott's smiling face in the reflection! 

Sisters Jasper and Henry both serve in Rayong! We were so excited to have Sisters in Rayong, but we hardly got to go down there this month! They also did a nice job cleaning! Sister Henry heads back to the USA this week. We will miss her!

After we did the house inspections, we Facetimed with Kevin! 

One week and one day after getting out of the hospital, Elder Brady heads out on his first "field trip." He decided meatballs and potatoes sounded good for lunch. So we headed over to IKEA. This is the Emsphere Mall (where IKEA is located). They always have some sort of gorgeous art or holiday decorations here. Elder Brady is taking a rest on the bench.

Look who is in town!! Rick and Belley caught the train and met us at IKEA. They arrived in Thailand the day before and were excited to spend some time with us. Originally, we had some plans to head to an Ancient City and maybe go to the beach, but they said they would be happy just hanging out and catching up and relaxing with us! Thailand is hot this time of year, so they were fine staying indoors with the cool AC and enjoy some time with us and some time at their hotel. So Saturday we basically went to lunch together! We sat and visited with them for quite a long time! It was lovely. 

The sunset looked so beautiful from the window next to our apartment on the 5th floor. My iphone does not quite capture what I saw, but I am leaving this photo here for the memory! 

Saturday evening we talked to Dawson (Kevin's son) and wished him a happy birthday! 

Happy Birthday 9 year old! I am so thankful for technology and how we can stay connected to our children and grandchildren even though we are so far away! In fact, Michelle's daughter Jenna called me Sunday morning (Saturday evening for her) for a school assignment. She wanted to talk about the 80s decade! She asked me a lot of questions and it was fun answering her and remembering my life in the 80s! A lot happened for me in that decade!! I went from graduating high school, to college, to meeting and dating and getting married to my eternal companion (and current mission companion - haha), to becoming a mother and having our first 2 children! One thing that was fun to talk about was how different communication was back then. The thought that we could talk to each other and see each other's faces on the other side of the world was like SCIENCE FICTION!! We couldn't even call each other because it was so expensive! No texts! No emails! Just good old fashioned hand written letters! I do miss getting letters in the mail (which is probably why I still love Christmas cards!) but the crazy wonderful things we can do today is amazing! I love that I can talk to my children on the phone or via video anytime I want to! Well that was a tangent . . . wasn't it?! Haha! 

So . . . where was I? Sunday! We talked to Jenna and then went to church. Rick and Belley came over and we fed them a spaghetti dinner. They brought us some Cinnabon! Yum! And we played Risk! Rick brought the game from the USA, to the Philippines, and on to Thailand! Thanks Rick! I was the biggest loser! I lost my strong hold on North America early on. John ended up conquering us all! He ruled the world and was very happy about it! Nobody was mad because he had just gotten out of the hospital. I am not saying we let him win ... 

Sunday evening - another beautiful sunset. I zoomed in this time for you! 

Monday morning workout. Same stairs. Same shirt. 

Monday, Rick and Belle came over again and we ventured across the street to the building behind us (we walked under the street via the subway tunnels so we didn't have to dodge cars on the road). 

We had lunch together at a little restaurant. We ate yummy Salmon Salad!

Rick and Belle came back over to our apartment and we watched a movie and visited some more! 

We sure were happy to see them and so glad that they spent time with us in Thailand! 

Tuesday we did a house inspection on line with Elders Guanuna and Hunt and I forgot to take a picture! We also headed back to the office and had a ton of work to do! So we did some catching up in the office. 

Wednesday we did a house inspection with the Chonburi Elders! 

Elders Kelly and DeLange did a fantabulous job!

Once again, I am so pleased with the shiny faucets! This is where the bonus points happen!

When it was all said and done, Elder Brady gave them an A plus!! 

Also on Wednesday, Sister Call and I headed out on an adventure! We often get packages for the missionaries that don't make it to our office, because they get stuck in customs. Usually, we can pay a small fee (or sometimes large fee) and the package will be delivered. But sometimes there are additional charges and issues. Sister Peterson had a package that was held up for months. Since she was supposed to pick it up in person, but could not do that based on where she is serving in the mission now, we gathered up signed permission letters and passports and all that was needed to try and pick up her package! The Customs Postal office was an hour plus away by subway, train, and walking to the final destination! And it was hot out! We were melting! We got there around 11am and then we had to jump through some hoops. They did not want to let us pick it up at first, but finally agreed it would be OK. We got a number and were told to sit and wait until we were called!

Well, our queue number was 31! As you can see on the screen in the background, they were on number 30! We were next and we were very excited to finally get Sister Peterson's package . . . and then we saw all the lights go off! And then we read the sign that said the office was closed for lunch! We had to wait another hour. Did I mention I was VERY HUNGRY??? And I was looking forward to leftover spaghetti back at the house?? I could feel my energy drain and I was maybe even feeling a little frustrated and  HANGRY!!! 

Fortunately, right next to the waiting area, there was a little stand that made fruit smoothies. We each bought a smoothie and Sister Call bought us some cookies. The Hanger left and the energy flowed back into our veins! We got back to sharing stories and sipping on our smoothies while we waited. 

And at last, nearly 5 hours later, we had Sister Peterson's package. There was a huge storage fee and custom taxes that had to be paid (which gets taken out of the missionaries funds), but the mission was accomplished. Sister Peterson was very happy! Here we are waiting for a Grab ride home!

Wednesday, late afternoon, Elder Brady gave a patriarchal blessing to Elder Seesombat, one of our missionaries who was heading home from his 2 year mission on Thursday. That was a special experience. We will miss Elder Seesombat. 

Thursday morning breakfast. Chocolate milk! There is this amazing chocolate milk you can buy at 7-11 here in Thailand. It is called Dutch Mill. And we discovered if you freeze it, it turns into soft serve chocolate ice cream! And it is the best breakfast "drink" ever! FYI - I ate some fruit too. 

Speaking of fruit, Elder Brady and I took a walk to the market to pick up 25 bags for fruit for the transfer breakfast on Friday morning. 

On our walk home, I noticed some workers painting over the graffiti on the walls near the bridge. 

So I took a picture for you all to enjoy. I wonder how long the wall will stay clean?!

Elders Wingrove and Olson stopped by to say hello. And we said goodbye to Sister Cameron who is heading home to Australia! She is the first missionary we met in the MTC 15 months ago!!

Sisters Jasper and Sister Makilan stopped in the office to chat with us. 

We talked for almost an hour! 

Friday morning! Transfer day and new arrival training day! It is so good to see all of these happy faces! 

Sisters Brunt, Lundberg, me, Peterson (proud owner of a long awaited for package), Allen (brand new sister missionary), Makilan, Zabala, and Jasper! Photo cred: Elder Richards (who did a selfie but did not include himself!)

Missionaries gather around to see who the new arrivals will be paired with. 

Sister Allen will be trained by Sister Lundberg! And Elder Banana will be trained by Elder Hiatt! 

Friday afternoon, Elder Brady and I wait at the Doctor's office for a report on his ultrasound. Good news - things are looking very good! Bloodwork, ultrasound, everything is heading in the right direction. There is still some inflammation and that explains some continued pain, but we feel your prayers and are so grateful that he is continuing to heal! 

Friday late afternoon walk home from the hospital. I wanted to get a picture of the graffiti across the way that seems to considered art along this walkway. I always wonder why sometimes it is considered art and other times it needs to be painted over. In the middle of my picture taking a motorcycle sailed by (on this pedestrian only walkway) . . . oh well! Haha! 

Home at last and we ran into these great Elders! Elder Htoo is back in Bangkok! Yay! His new companion is Elder Guanuna. Elder Hunt is leaving Bangkok and heading to Nong Khai! 

And here is a picture with out my hair flying in my face! 

And that wraps up this week! 

Do you realize that we only have 5 transfers left???

Spoiler alert - I need to head up to our apartment and start packing! 

We are moving tomorrow!

It is just down the hall to a bigger room - The Meekers from the West Mission are headed home and we are inheriting the bigger apartment! We are going to miss the Meekers!

We love you and we miss you!

Thanks for reading!